Industry Week articles from October 2005

Industry Week archives from October 2005

ExxonMobil[R] introduces breakthrough grease dispensing and transporting system.(Grease One-Way Logistics and Distribution)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2005... When it comes to storing and dispensing lubricants, such as grease, most industrial companies and trucking fleets rely on heavy, steel drums, steel (or plastic) totes or permanent bulk tanks. As most facility managers know, drums and tanks...

Continental drifter--an inside look at the world of manufacturing.(Brief Article)(Column)
October 1, 2005... In this column, Mark Gottlieb, a freelance journalist for 25 years, gives the IW audience his take on the state of manufacturing across the globe. He delves into the social, cultural and economic conditions that companies face as they produce...

Upcoming webcasts.
October 1, 2005... http://www.industryweek.com/webcasts Sept. 28: Managing The Bullwhip Effect: Respond quickly and intelligently to demand swings Sponsored by Kinaxis Oct. 5: Metals Industry In Transition: How producers and service centers...

Online poll.
October 1, 2005... Will your company face a shortage of skilled workers in 2006? YES 70% NO 30% Note: Table made from bar graph.

Continental crusaders: here's proof that you can succeed at manufacturing in North America--and we'll even tell you how.(Editorial)
October 1, 2005... IF YOU'RE LOOKING FOR EVIDENCE THAT North American production facilities can compete with low-cost imports (read: China), or if you're trying to figure out how some factories have managed to avoid being shipped overseas, you've come to the...

Challenging Panchak.(Letter to the Editor)
October 1, 2005... Re "China's Challenge Redux," Editor's Page, Page 9, September 2005. [C]an you possibly be that clueless to what the Chinese have done to us thanks to our idiotic politicians? I've been in the fabricating/machining business for most of my life...

There is Much Ado About Yuan.(Letter to the Editor)
October 1, 2005... Re "Much Ado About Nothing?" Page 13, September 2005. I have just finished reading your item about the change in the value of the Chinese currency and ask that in the future when you write on this topic think what should happen to a currency...

Assessing Evans Assessing Alan.(Letter to the Editor)
October 1, 2005... Re "Assessing Alan," On The Economy, Page 72, September 2005. Mike Evans makes some good points. However, I do not agree that a surge in oil prices can distort the CPI. Energy in all its forms is an integral part of our economy, from the cost...

Pressures dampening outlook: CAFTA's close vote might be a sign of tougher times for other pacts.(Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement)
October 1, 2005... THE EXTREMELY NARROW 217-215 margin by which the U.S. House of Representatives in late July approved a free-trade agreement among the U.S., the Dominican Republic and five Central American countries could signal serious trouble ahead for...

Reverse rust belt thinking: start-ups need more than money if they are going to revive manufacturing, the economy.(Thomas N. Tyrrell of Glengary Ventures)(Interview)
October 1, 2005... Thomas N. Tyrrell is a founder, managing director and board member of Glengary Management, the manager of the Cleveland-based equity fund known as Glengary LLC. Unlike conventional venture capital firms, Glengary focuses on more than providing...

Up in the air.(Sorts anniversery on 30th October)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2005... AN ANNIVERSARY OF SORTS ARRIVES SOON. OCT. 30 will be exactly five years since the three-man Expedition One crew launched on a Russian Soyuz rocket to take up residence at the International Space Station (ISS). The first crew successfully...

Still growing, mostly: steel production is the exception in 2005.(Hurricane Katrina affects production)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2005... ONLY STEEL, AMONG 20 INdustries for which Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI has made production projections, is expected to show a decline this year. Steel production is likely to be 8% less in 2005 than it was in 2004, says the Arlington, Va.-based...

Collaborative consumption.(Lean Solutions: How Companies and Customers Can Create Value and Wealth Together by James P. Womack and Daniel T. Jones )(Brief Article)
October 1, 2005... In their previous book, "Lean Thinking," co-authors James P. Womack and Daniel T. Jones introduced the concept of lean production, offering up five principles to guide firms toward achieving superior process management. Now they're back with...

Better decisions with business intelligence: manufacturers such as Pergo Inc. use BI to keep finished goods moving.(business intelligence)
October 1, 2005... FOR MOST MANUFACTURers, knowing exactly how much they have on hand of what products and where they are stored is essential. Armed with this information, companies often can make adjustments to satisfy customers, move unwanted or obsolete...

Toyota's hybrids--lifts trucks, too? Use lift trucks? Better start thinking about hybrids, fuel cells and updating your AGV strategies.
October 1, 2005... WHEN AN EXECUTIVE of Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. recently predicted North American sales of about 600,000 hybrids early in the next decade, he wasn't referring to lift trucks--yet! Jim Press, president and COO of the company's U.S. motor car...

The best employee you'll never see: he'll take care of all those little annoyances, and hey, he doesn't care what you pay him.(virtual employee takes care of incoming calls)(Editorial)
October 1, 2005... LADIES AND GENTLEMAN, ALLOW ME TO INTRODUCE Bart Francis, our new VP of Special Projects. I'm sorry that Bart can t be with us on his first day, but--well, Bart is a different sort of employee. Bart is virtual--not in the sense that he's on...

Building a just-in-time workforce: achieving operational excellence through Demand-Driven Workforce Management.
October 1, 2005... In order to compete in today's increasingly competitive world market, many companies have applied lean and Six Sigma principles to operations, targeting inefficiencies, eliminating waste in the supply chain, and improving their ability to...

Sharing the wealth: shared service centers offer more than just consolidation of services--when planned correctly.
October 1, 2005... IN 2000, $2.4 Billion Alliant Techsystems (ATK), A DEVELOPER OF ADVANCED WEAPONS AND space systems based in Minneapolis, Minn., operated several dozen plants in 22 states. Just about every location was supported by at least one human resources...

Too much sense, too little response.(response management )
October 1, 2005... There is a growing focus on solutions that "sense" what is going on in a business--alerting users to gains in demand signals, plant failures, supply outages, and similar occurrences. The vendor and analyst communities have labeled these tools...

When you blend canola oil, outside help improves workflow.(Canbra Foods Ltd., Rockwell Automation Inc.)
October 1, 2005... How a canola oil products maker refined production with Rockwell Automation. Canbra Foods knows how to spin seed into golden oil. Canbra is Canada's largest, fully integrated oilseed crushing, refining, processing, and packaging company....

Successful by design: IndustryWeek's 2005 Best Plants excel by intent, not by accident.(Cover Story)
October 1, 2005... IN ITS INITIAL APPLICATION FOR IndustryWeek's 2005 Best Plants program, Bowater Inc., Catawba Operations, wrote that "we've been inadvertently preparing for this competition over the last three years..." Not so inadvertent, however,...

Boston Scientific Corp. Wayne Operations, Wayne NJ: in good hands: employees take their work personally because they know lives are at stake.(Company Profile)
October 1, 2005... MANUFACTURING AT THE BOSTON Scientific, Wayne, N.J., plant can be intensely personal: David Delgado's parents were in a serious car crash in which his father, Joseph, died and after which his mother, Rose, had an emergency arterial graft. After...

Bowater, Inc. Catawba, Operations, Catawba, S.C.: the right mix: at Bowater's Catawba Operations, technology, training and engaged employees combine to produce breakthrough plant performances.(Company Profile)
October 1, 2005... OL' Blue May Be Pushing 40, But Its advanced age has not stopped the No. 3 paper machine at Bowater Inc.'s Catawba Operations from producing record-setting output. At the opposite age extreme, the relative youth and new technology of the...

dj Orthopedics, LLC Vista, Calif.: lean medicine cures chaos; plant replaced messes with lessons in lean.(Company Profile)
October 1, 2005... LEAN MANUFACTURING HAS HELPED dj Orthopedics LLC to shrink the manufacturing footprint at its Vista, Calif., plant by 61% in the past year, and the company is relying on streamlining production processes to fuel growth. Although...

General Cable Corp. Moose Jaw Plant, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada: prairie home champion: lean, Six Sigma and a remarkable work ethic make the real difference.(Company Profile)
October 1, 2005... Some residents claim not much changes in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, a city of just under 35,000 people on the Canadian prairie, a place where a trip across town takes only about 10 minutes--even during the punishing winters. But residents...

The Hon Co. Cedartown Plant, Cedartown, Ga.: sustaining lean: how nurturing a 'healthy discontent' and rewarding employees turns lean into a way of life.(Company Profile)
October 1, 2005... The steel presses seem to set the pace of the plant, a steady whump that you feel in your chest as much as hear through ear plugs. It s the start of the production lines at The HON Co. in Cedartown, Ga., maker of midmarket office...

Global F-35 aircraft coalition builds unique collaboration network.(International Traffic in Arms Regulations)
October 1, 2005... Teamcenter from UGS delivers global innovation, ITAR regulatory compliance * Business: Lockheed Martin Aeronautics builds the finest military aircraft in the world * The world's first truly international, integrated digital...

National Gypsum Co. Gibsonton, Fla.: faster, leaner, greener: process excellence speeds customer responsiveness at National Gypsum's Apollo Beach Plant. Power plant waste is the raw material.(Company Profile)
October 1, 2005... "Our manufacturing achievements originate in one powerful management practice--consistent production floor involvement," say Freeman Cohen Jr., lead operator on the production floor at National Gypsum Apollo Beach plant. Power plant waste is...

Solectron Corp. Columbia, S.C.: operating in all modes: in Columbia, Solectron competes via Lean, Six Sigma to the delight--and something surprise--of customers.(Company Profile)
October 1, 2005... Imagine a manufacturing plant where the long-term strategy is to constantly strive to competitively leverage the value of production workers; where employees are considered assets deserving of investment; and where worker knowledge of product...

Storage Technology (Bermuda) Ltd. Ponce, Puerto Rico: a passionate people: meeting a challenge for 20% year-on-year improvements, the StorageTek Ponce plant embraces new thinking.(Company Profile)
October 1, 2005... It was New Year's Eve 2004, and Cindy Despres wondered why her husband was crying. He had just hung up the phone. What could be wrong? As Tom Despres tells it, what was going on at the StorageTek plant in Ponce, Puerto Rico, that he manages...

Thomas & Betts Corp. Athens, Tenn. operations, Athens, Tenn.: even better: new expectations, goals and classic lean practices lead Thomas & Betts to world-class performance.(Tennesse)(Company Profile)
October 1, 2005... At 9:30 a.m., the 12-person management team at Thomas & Betts in Athens, Tenn., ritually walks through the plant. Just a few years ago, this group would have huddled in a conference room, reviewed problems, assigned blame and pushed solutions...

United States vs. China: value chain integration.(Executive Insights)
October 1, 2005... An important new study has found that Chinese manufacturing plants are more likely to report value-chain integration than their U.S. counterparts, reports the accounting, tax and business advisory services firm, Grant Thornton LLP, in The China...

TRW OSS Mexican operations Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico: all about safety: TRW OSS Mexican operations, makers of seatbelts, take their products and mission seriously.(Company Profile)
October 1, 2005... Driving down the Libramiento freeway on the outskirts of Reynosa, Mexico, Mark Adams, TRW's Mexican Operations quality manager, points out a red pickup truck that is carrying several men in its bed. The men are standing up, while the driver...

CEOs raise revenue targets; stronger US. dollar makes for challenge.(chief executive officers)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2005... Spurred on by robust growth in their individual industry sectors, CEOs of 350 fast-growing small to midsize privately held product and service firms raised their companies' 12-month revenue growth targets to an average of 23.4% during the...

Bank on it.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2005... Despite rising interest rates, fast-growing privately held manufacturers are moving away from self-financing and toward bank loans, indicates a recent PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) survey. Service-sector firms have been less likely to shift. ...

Oil's murky mystery solved; why higher prices haven't slowed the U.S. economy.
October 1, 2005... Since the beginning of 2004, benchmark crude oil prices have more than doubled. However, the U.S. economy continues to grow at about 4%. From June 2004 through August of this year, the Federal Reserve boosted the federal funds target rate 10...